


Since You Came Along Some of This Got Easy

by loonyBibliophile



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, F/M, Lots of cuddles, Non-Sexual Intimacy, could be platonic or romatic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-19
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-09 06:32:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1142654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loonyBibliophile/pseuds/loonyBibliophile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the end of the day, no matter how stressful SHIELD gets, as long as Jemma Simmons ad Leo Fitz have each other to turn to, they'll be just fine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Since You Came Along Some of This Got Easy

Things have been rough as of late on the Bus. Simmons feels like she can't catch a break, one week she's almost dying and falling out of a plane, then before she knew it Fitz was off on a dangerous mission with no retrieval plan, and then suddenly Mike Peterson double crossed them and Coulson was gone and they tried desperately to find them, stuck working with a group of people who cared more about finding Centipede than their missing agent. And to top it all off, right after that Fitz had been targeted again, by the students at the Academy. 

To say that after the events of the last few month Simmons was stressed would be an incredible understatement. There was a lull between missions at the moment, and Simmons was restless, constantly fussing with projects stuck at a standstill, or cooking and forcing food on the team, mostly Fitz. There were heavy dark circles under her eyes, and her cuticles were red and torn from being chewed at. 

When she knocked on Fitz's door with a dish of some English countryside comfort food for the fourth night in a row, he'd had a enough. 

"Simmons, come in an' sit down, for the love of God." he sighed heavily. The biochemist started for a minute, blinking and then nodded, dropping the plate of bangers and mash on his desk with a slight clatter before lowering herself onto his bed. 

"I'm a wreck, Fitz." 

"Ya say that like I haven't noticed, Simmons."

"I know I know, it's just awful. I normally handle stress so well, too, but it's just been so much all at once." 

Ftiz frowned as he watched her worry the strands of hair falling from her normally neat ponytail. He was stressed too, and watching her be so uptight was only making it worse. Simmons was his rock, if she got lost he was done for. Scooting back against the wall, he patted the space between his legs. 

"C'mere, Jemma." her shoulders softened at hearing her first name, and she inched her way towards him and leaned back against his chest. "Nuh uh, lean forward." he said quietly, rubbing her shoulders softly. She nodded and sat up, inching forward slightly and leaning her elbows onto her knees. 

Carefully, Fitz pulled the hair tie from around her ponytail, pulling it up around his wrist. Then, after cracking his knuckles, gently set to work smoothing her hair by running his fingers through it, rubbing and scratching her scalp lightly. His fingers rubbed at the nape of her neck, combing through her hair and easing the tenseness of her muscles. Simmons sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head back lightly. 

Back at university, or even the academy, it wasn't that unusual for Fitz to force Simmons to relax, after working too long an homework or something, by pulling her onto a bed or sofa or into a chair and combing through her hair. She was always keen to return the favor when Fitz came home from class exhausted and all bent up from hunching over some tiny machine all day, and she'd sit him on the floor in front of the sofa or the bed and knead the tension from his neck and shoulders until her fingers got tired. 

When Fitz was satisfied with how gently Simmons' neck lolled back, he combed through her hair once more before gently splitting the strands into thirds. Slowly, he wound her soft hair into a braid, making sure to keep the sections smooth until he twisted the band around the bottom, laying the braid over one of her shoulders so he could rub her neck softly with his fingers. The feeling of his warm calloused hands was familiar and comfortable, and Simmons propped herself up by leaning on one of Fitz's bent knees, her eyes still closed. 

"You've got to remember to relax, Jem. S'no good for you or me when you're so strung out." Simmons nodded, not wanting to interrupt the familiar sound of his rough accent with her own voice. Shifting onto her side, she leaned back into Fitz's chest, contenting herself with the rhythm of his heart. He stroked the side of her neck gently, resting his chin on the top of her head. After a few moments she sat up carefully and poked his side. 

"Sit on the floor." her voice was quiet and sleepy, and Fitz obliged, pulling off his heavy sweater so they're only be a regular button up in Simmons' way. She quickly snatched his sweater from him, pulling it on since it was chilly in the plane at night and he rolled his eyes good naturedly. Fitz had lost a great many sweaters to Simmons since they met in university, but at this point he'd sort of stopped minding. Pushing up the sleeves of the sweater, Simmons laid her hands on Fitz's shoulders and started kneading gently, pushing gently on the muscles.

"Good god, Fitz. Your neck feels like a tree trunk your muscles are so tight." she tutted softly, working her fingers against his skin, until his whole upper body felt warm and pliant under her touch. She stopped for a moment, running her fingers through his thick curls and scratching at his scalp. "You shouldn't worry so much either, Leo." she said quietly. "It isn't good for you. You'll be a hunched old man before we're in our thirties." Fitz smiled when she called him by his first name, gently rolling his shoulders to shift her hands away and stood up. 

"I'm going to go and make us some tea. And you are going to stay here and pick something for us to watch, and neither of us are goin' ta do anythin' else for the rest of the evenin', alright Jem?" he looked down at her, taking a moment to smooth the hair hanging loose by her ears, holding her face in his hands. She smiled and nodded. 

"Sounds great." 

When Fitz returned a few minutes later with two mugs of steaming tea, Simmons had pulled open Fitz's laptop and set it up at the foot of his bed, the first Harry Potter movie paused on the opening credits, and bundled all of his blankets and pillows up where they could lay comfortably. Fitz grinned, walking in but leaving the door open to discourage any speculation as to what they were doing. 

"You would, wouldn't ya."

Setting the tea down on the nearby night stand, he pulled himself into the bed, swinging an arm around Simmons, who promptly rested her head against his head and tucked herself into his side, content to hear his heart and absorb the warmth he'd radiated as long as she'd known him. He pulled his quilt, which had been made by Simmons' mother some years before, and then leaned forward to click play, grabbing the mugs of tea and handing Simmons her mug. 

"Thank you." she said softly. Fitz knew of course she didn't just mean the tea, so her rubbed her upper arm with his hand and shook his head. 

"Anythin' for you, Jem. Ya know that by now." 

Eventually, tea finished and well into the second Harry Potter film, they nodded off, Simmons still tucked neatly beneath Fitz's arm. Sometime later than night, after acquiring a midnight drink of water, Coulson spotted them and smiled to himself before shutting the door quietly. The pair of scientists slept soundly for the first time in months.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short little thing, because I'm a sucker for non-sexual intimacy and Fitzsimmons seemed like the perfect candidates. Title from You Know Me by Air Traffic Controller


End file.
